Digital advertising has been thrust into the spotlight as more information comes out about Russia’s use of digital ads in the 2016 election, a strategy Facebook executive Rob Goldman believes “stoked fear and hatred amongst Americans.”

A political action committee raised over $2 million to entice David Clarke into a Senate run — even as the former Milwaukee sheriff and controversial Trump surrogate denounced the PAC as a “scam” and dismissed rumors that he would seek a higher office.

Tax documents show that the group spent $45 million from the run-up to the 2016 presidential election into the early days of President Trump’s administration. The money that fueled the spending was raised from just a handful of wealthy, anonymous donors — most of whom gave more than $1 million each.

Conservative groups have done their best to corner the market on tax messaging based on pure volume and size of expenditures, but liberal groups too have asserted themselves since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s enactment last year.

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